'Exile is  in many ways more like a concept album than a simple collection of songs although Gary prefers to think of it as a horror story set to music.

Lyrically it is based around a simple but frightening idea. That God and the Devil are one and the same creature, and that Heaven and Hell are one and the same place, and it is only the perception of those that find themselves there that makes it one or the other. One mans Hell can be another mans Heaven. Gary himself does not believe in God at all and so this album is not the work of a man trying to turn people away from whatever faith they may posess. What it does suggest though, is that our interpretation of the Bible may be terrifyingly mistaken.

As Gary hilmself has said many times while talking about this album, 'If somebody could walk up to me now and convince me that I was wrong, and that God does exist, I would tend to believe that the 'Exile' idea is nearer to the truth than anything I've ever heard from the pulpit. To find out that God was real would be the most frightening thing that I could possibly imagine'. 

'Exile's soundscape builds upon the brooding, dark sound first adapted on its predecessor 'Sacrifice', the, unfortunately, abyssal sounding 'comeback' album. Not a bad thing since the theme still worked and was relatively new and refreshing on this album, it was not until 'Pure', the follow up of 2000 that it got somewhat old and tiresome. Pleasing people that enjoyed the extinguished art of albums with an actual theme, 'Exile' is a concept album of sorts, which partly justifies the monotonous but truly awesome drum loops that let the songs melt into each other and gives the album it's most distinctive trait. Now, I say 'partly' because the repetitiveness of the album did get on my nerves in the end. It took some time though. The lyrics evolves around Numan's obvious grudge with 'God', the concept of 'blind faith' and its followers, as well as tearing down temples and other various sacrilegious activities.
Delivered with Numan's hauntingly whispering and at times sneering voice, giving the impression to belong to the most frightening presence ( Yes, even more frightening than 'Machine & Soul - Extended' :D ) dragged out of the deepest abyss, and now taking residence in your head. Sounds just lovely wouldn't you say? And it perfectly fits the music. 'Close the dead eyes of God if they offended you'. Although the production have improved it still sounds muddy, but it's not a big deal looking at the whole thing as this baby got atmosphere and plenty of it. The hypnotic rhythms coupled with ambient synth lines, bells and blistering guitars makes for quite some listening experience. If there's such a thing as 'the perfect sound', in my ears, I can't imagine this being all that far from it. Some highlights are the aggressive opener 'Dominion Day', 'Dead Heaven' and the breath-taking 'Absolution' amongst others. All in all, there's some good song writing on here, artwork is top-notch and its minor imperfections can easily be overlooked with an open mind. A pretty solid release in other words, his strongest one since 'Metal Rhythm', if not earlier still. 

by Shunt